JOHANNESBURG
\nSouth Africa\u2019s former president Jacob Zuma survived a car accident overnight when his vehicle was struck by a drunk driver, but his newly created opposition group accused the ruling ANC party of being involved in the incident.
\n\u201cTwo car accidents in a space of a year and a half, both accidents committed by purported \u2018drunk drivers\u2019 who manage to drive directly into President Zuma\u2019s motorcade,\u201d a spokesman for Zuma\u2019s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party said in a statement.
\n\u201cThis looks like a deliberate attempt to assassinate President Zuma,\u201d said the spokesman, Nhlamulo Ndhlela.
\nNdhlela said the party had \u201cbeen monitoring and observing a sequence of inter-related events\u201d that have happened to Zuma under the \u201cCyril Ramaphosa government,\u201d after Zuma announced in December that he would be campaigning for the MK party in bid to relaunch his political career.
\nZuma, a former veteran of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was forced out of office in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations but still wields political clout.
\nThe car accident happened on Thursday just hours after electoral officials barred Zuma from standing in the May 29 general election, further stoking tensions ahead of the vote.
\nThe driver\u2019s car \u201ccollided with former president Mr.Jacob Zuma\u2019s official armored state vehicle,\u201d the South African Police Service (SAPS) said.
\nA 51-year-old man was arrested in KwaZulu Natal province \u201cfor drunken driving, as well as on a charge of reckless and negligent driving,\u201d SAPS said.
\nZuma, 81, and his bodyguards escaped uninjured and he was taken to his place of residence.
\nOn Wednesday, the ANC filed a new court application against MK after losing an initial bid to have the party disqualified.
\nThe ANC says that MK\u2019s name and logo are similar to those of the now disbanded apartheid-era military wing of the ANC once led by Nelson Mandela, and that this could deceive or confuse voters.
\nZuma\u2019s daughter Duduzile Zuma took to X to allege that the car collision was not a coincidence.
\n\u201cPlease don\u2019t insult our intelligence, we are not supporters of Ramaphosa,\u201d she wrote.
\n\u201cThe police minister who is responsible for the former president\u2019s protection unit has not upgraded his vehicle for eight years and he is the same person that has previously uttered messages around burying Zuma,\u201d the party spokesman Ndhlela told AFP.
\nHe also noted what he called \u201cdangerous and reckless statements\u201d made by ANC politicians toward Zuma, including a provincial official saying that \u201cZuma will be in hospital before elections.\u201d
\nAs the May election approaches, the ANC is at risk of dropping below 50 percent of the vote for the first time since it came to power at the end of apartheid in 1994.
\nThe party is bleeding support amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
\nThe driver of the other vehicle in Zuma\u2019s crash is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
\nZuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency.
\nHe was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.
\nBut his jailing sparked protests, riots and looting that left more than 350 dead in South Africa\u2019s worst violence since the advent of democracy.
\nWhen asked about Zuma\u2019s condition since the crash, Ndhlela told AFP: \u201cHe is in high spirits as always and was in laughter this morning about the accident.\u201d
\n\u201cBut it does not mean he took it lightly (or that) he is not aware of what\u2019s happening.\u201d
\n\u201cMr Zuma is in church today praying that the devil does not come into MK,\u201d he said, referring to the ANC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHANNESBURG South Africa\u2019s former president Jacob Zuma survived a car accident overnight when his vehicle was struck by a drunk driver, but his newly created opposition group accused the ruling ANC party of being involved in the incident. \u201cTwo car accidents in a space of a year and a half, both accidents committed by purported […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-397473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n